Living with diabetes
Friday, May 19, 2006
My outlook
A friend of mine recently dealt with some medical concerns regarding her father, who has type 2 diabetes. I emailed her in the beginning and wanted to share some of what I said to her. With it going on 17 years of me having type 1 diabetes then I've had some time to think and deal with things and here is what I had to say. I hope it helps anyone out there.
"I know you mentioned this being an "affliction" for your father. At the beginning, after my diagnosis, I felt the same way...for years, but I had to learn that was holding me back from my life too. I was letting the diabetes have control and I was seeing myself as my disease. I am not diabetes or any other disease/virus I have. Your father is not his diabetes either. I don't know him, but I am sure he is a great man, and I figure he has done his own soul searching when it came to diabetes and dealing with it. That doesn't mean this isn't stressing him out, but I said everything I have to try to help you see what may be going through his head. If I am faced with something like this some day, I hope I can look at it and think I can fight it, that it will not get me down because I've come through so much before. Diabetes didn't get me in the beginning and will not get me in the end.
People talk of others having died from diabetes, but when I hear it was the heart or kidneys or something else I get angry because it was the complications and not the diabetes. To me possible complicatons are part of it and what diabetics fight against everyday of their lives. I also feel that ALL of the complications could be caused or come from something else. People without diabetes have heart attacks, they have strokes, they have kidney failure, etc for numerous medical reasons and injuries.
I have to look at it and tell myself it isn't going to kill me. It can cause problems and issues, but it still does not control me and does not get to be what defines me. I can and will fight and fight and fight to the best of my ability and roll with the punches."
"I know you mentioned this being an "affliction" for your father. At the beginning, after my diagnosis, I felt the same way...for years, but I had to learn that was holding me back from my life too. I was letting the diabetes have control and I was seeing myself as my disease. I am not diabetes or any other disease/virus I have. Your father is not his diabetes either. I don't know him, but I am sure he is a great man, and I figure he has done his own soul searching when it came to diabetes and dealing with it. That doesn't mean this isn't stressing him out, but I said everything I have to try to help you see what may be going through his head. If I am faced with something like this some day, I hope I can look at it and think I can fight it, that it will not get me down because I've come through so much before. Diabetes didn't get me in the beginning and will not get me in the end.
People talk of others having died from diabetes, but when I hear it was the heart or kidneys or something else I get angry because it was the complications and not the diabetes. To me possible complicatons are part of it and what diabetics fight against everyday of their lives. I also feel that ALL of the complications could be caused or come from something else. People without diabetes have heart attacks, they have strokes, they have kidney failure, etc for numerous medical reasons and injuries.
I have to look at it and tell myself it isn't going to kill me. It can cause problems and issues, but it still does not control me and does not get to be what defines me. I can and will fight and fight and fight to the best of my ability and roll with the punches."
Monday, May 01, 2006
My adventures with diabetes this weekend
As much as we think we know ourselves and our bodies we constantly live and learn, which of course I did this weekend.
Friday afternoon my boyfriend and I headed to Biltmore in Asheville, NC with some friends. We got up early Sat. and spent the whole day at the house, which makes for a lot of walking through the house, the gardens, the conservartory, and the winery. I'd just gotten off my period thursday of that week, and I say that to point out that at this time my bloodsugars take a dip, but I can normally keep them at good terms by watching them closely...on a regular day. Touring Biltmore was not a regular day, and despite knowing I'd need snacks and knowing to watch my sugars more, I still ran into quinks.
First of all, though I was on my last bottle of test strips before refilling the script, I thought I'd be ok and have enough to last the weekend. Miscalculation number one...
Secondly, during the wine tasting at the winery, I didn't eat. All diabetics know it is good to eat while drinking any form of alcohol, and I didn't carry enough snacks with me that day to have one when I left the wine tasting. Miscalculation number two....
Thirdly, when we finely ate a few hours after the wine tasting I still took insulin, which in hindsight I should have forgone and just given the night time does. Miscalculation number three....
Yes there is a great pattern here: that even though it is going on 17 yrs of having type 1 diabetes I don't know everything and still screw up or miscalculate. One of the people with us had a birthday Sunday, so we had a cake for her back at the hotel room Saturday night after dinner, so after cake I get back to the hotel room and check my sugar to find it at 90. Since I was going to prepare for bed, which normally includes night time insulin, I needed to have a snack to bring the sugar up. I had snacks in the hotel room still, but I couldn't carry them all with me to Biltmore. So I proceeded to snack and wait a half hour to check my sugar again, but this time it had dropped, ok I can deal with that and snack some more. Till my stomach didn't like it and I got sick. I also started drinking regular pops instead of diet, which should have helped with things too. After getting sick I just drank the regular pops, but this didn't help either. The night consisted of me drinking, eating when I could again, drinking, eating, and drinking somemore only to have my sugars tease me by going up for a bit and dropping back down. Also during this time of the numerous finger pricks and bloodsugar testing I began to run out of strips...what luck. I was tired after the day at Biltmore and was getting more tired by the minute of dealing with these sugars that HAD to BE RAISED in order for me to go to bed. After snacking for an hour or a little over on granola bars, nestle snackers, and dr pepper I figured I need to try crackers a peanut butter. My boyfriend went down to the lobby to see if the snack machine had those and he came back with some and a regular coke. I ate one cracker and my stomach turned so I just drank the coke. At this point I didn't know what else to do, I was scared, the boyfriend and I were both worried since I was running out of strips, so we called the paramedics. This call happened as I was drinking the regular coke, so once the paramedics got there I was feeling better. While the boyfriend was calling 911 I was sitting on one of the beds shivering and shaking. I was cold, but not enough to shiver in my opinion, so I wonder if my body was in shock. The shivering and shaking was gone when the paramedics were there. Basically they checked my sugar, which was 75 at that time and up from when I checked it last, and they asked if I wanted them to transport me to the hospital. I seriously thought about that before they got there...I was getting to my wits end and running out of test strips, but since I was feeling better than I had in the previous hour I opted out.
We found a 24 hr pharmacy and went to get more test strips. We got back from the pharmacy and my sugar was 148. After all the fear and exhaustion I also opted not to take my night time dose, plus it was after 2am at night. This did cause a few higher sugars the next day, but I was glad I wasn't fighting lows. I also gave a little bit of my night time insulin when I woke up that morning to try and help throughout the day, which is did some.
I learned several lessons: Always take more test strips then you think you will need with you on trips ALWAYS, take more snacks then you think you will need as you never know what will happen, ALWAY ALWAYS ALWAYS eat while drinking any kind of alcohol, when snacking for low bloodsugar make sure it is something that will sustain the sugar level and not raise it then drop it...surgary stuff does not help sustain it, and test test test test test when you are having low bloodsugar issues (actually that one is a given but falls in line with taking more test strips than you think you need).
A friend from another site referred me to a pdf article with some tidbits about how alcohol affects diabetes Diabetes & Alcohol. This is the Canadian website with diabetes information, but, either I have searched the American Diabetes Association site enough or there isn't good diabetes and alcohol information on the site. So if you want to read more on diabetes and alcohol go to Canadian Diabetes Association
Friday afternoon my boyfriend and I headed to Biltmore in Asheville, NC with some friends. We got up early Sat. and spent the whole day at the house, which makes for a lot of walking through the house, the gardens, the conservartory, and the winery. I'd just gotten off my period thursday of that week, and I say that to point out that at this time my bloodsugars take a dip, but I can normally keep them at good terms by watching them closely...on a regular day. Touring Biltmore was not a regular day, and despite knowing I'd need snacks and knowing to watch my sugars more, I still ran into quinks.
First of all, though I was on my last bottle of test strips before refilling the script, I thought I'd be ok and have enough to last the weekend. Miscalculation number one...
Secondly, during the wine tasting at the winery, I didn't eat. All diabetics know it is good to eat while drinking any form of alcohol, and I didn't carry enough snacks with me that day to have one when I left the wine tasting. Miscalculation number two....
Thirdly, when we finely ate a few hours after the wine tasting I still took insulin, which in hindsight I should have forgone and just given the night time does. Miscalculation number three....
Yes there is a great pattern here: that even though it is going on 17 yrs of having type 1 diabetes I don't know everything and still screw up or miscalculate. One of the people with us had a birthday Sunday, so we had a cake for her back at the hotel room Saturday night after dinner, so after cake I get back to the hotel room and check my sugar to find it at 90. Since I was going to prepare for bed, which normally includes night time insulin, I needed to have a snack to bring the sugar up. I had snacks in the hotel room still, but I couldn't carry them all with me to Biltmore. So I proceeded to snack and wait a half hour to check my sugar again, but this time it had dropped, ok I can deal with that and snack some more. Till my stomach didn't like it and I got sick. I also started drinking regular pops instead of diet, which should have helped with things too. After getting sick I just drank the regular pops, but this didn't help either. The night consisted of me drinking, eating when I could again, drinking, eating, and drinking somemore only to have my sugars tease me by going up for a bit and dropping back down. Also during this time of the numerous finger pricks and bloodsugar testing I began to run out of strips...what luck. I was tired after the day at Biltmore and was getting more tired by the minute of dealing with these sugars that HAD to BE RAISED in order for me to go to bed. After snacking for an hour or a little over on granola bars, nestle snackers, and dr pepper I figured I need to try crackers a peanut butter. My boyfriend went down to the lobby to see if the snack machine had those and he came back with some and a regular coke. I ate one cracker and my stomach turned so I just drank the coke. At this point I didn't know what else to do, I was scared, the boyfriend and I were both worried since I was running out of strips, so we called the paramedics. This call happened as I was drinking the regular coke, so once the paramedics got there I was feeling better. While the boyfriend was calling 911 I was sitting on one of the beds shivering and shaking. I was cold, but not enough to shiver in my opinion, so I wonder if my body was in shock. The shivering and shaking was gone when the paramedics were there. Basically they checked my sugar, which was 75 at that time and up from when I checked it last, and they asked if I wanted them to transport me to the hospital. I seriously thought about that before they got there...I was getting to my wits end and running out of test strips, but since I was feeling better than I had in the previous hour I opted out.
We found a 24 hr pharmacy and went to get more test strips. We got back from the pharmacy and my sugar was 148. After all the fear and exhaustion I also opted not to take my night time dose, plus it was after 2am at night. This did cause a few higher sugars the next day, but I was glad I wasn't fighting lows. I also gave a little bit of my night time insulin when I woke up that morning to try and help throughout the day, which is did some.
I learned several lessons: Always take more test strips then you think you will need with you on trips ALWAYS, take more snacks then you think you will need as you never know what will happen, ALWAY ALWAYS ALWAYS eat while drinking any kind of alcohol, when snacking for low bloodsugar make sure it is something that will sustain the sugar level and not raise it then drop it...surgary stuff does not help sustain it, and test test test test test when you are having low bloodsugar issues (actually that one is a given but falls in line with taking more test strips than you think you need).
A friend from another site referred me to a pdf article with some tidbits about how alcohol affects diabetes Diabetes & Alcohol. This is the Canadian website with diabetes information, but, either I have searched the American Diabetes Association site enough or there isn't good diabetes and alcohol information on the site. So if you want to read more on diabetes and alcohol go to Canadian Diabetes Association
